Heart of the Sword
by Jill Rocca
Summary: [COMPLETE] When Kakeisan sends Kazahaya and Rikuo on a new job to find an old sword, it leads to shared beds, weird receptionists, and Samurai Champloo quotes. K&R while you R&R.
1. The Seduction of Kazahaya

**Heart of the Sword**

**Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, it's a TERRIBLE title, but whatever. This is my first attempt at a Legal Drug fanfiction and it just kind of walked into my head.**

**Chapter 1**

Rikuo stared down at his roommate. This was it, this was the time to give his daily wake-up call. Poor little guy didn't know what he was going to do today. He hadn't tried it before, but...

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Kazahaya shreiked as Rikuo poured a bucket of hot water onto his torso. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

"Oh Kazahaya, you look so cute,"

Indeed, fangirls will squeal at the pink patches on Kazahaya's cheeks and wet shirt.

"SHUT UP! THIS'LL TAKE FOREVER TO DRY!" He shouted, gesturing to his bed, "WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO TORTURE ME IN THE MORNINGS?"

Rikuo smirked, "Why, I thought that was obvious,"

"WELL IT'S NOT!" Kazahaya shouted jumping up from his bed and wringing out his shirt.

"It makes my day to see you all puffed up and angry-looking, you're at the top of the latter of cuteness Kazahaya." His smirk became more pronounce as Kazahaya turned red and started gripping shirt as though he wished it were Rikuo's neck.

He didn't say anymore and went into the bathroom to get a cold shower. What he playing at? He was not some toy that Rikuo could toss around and torment.

After his shower, Kazahaya found Rikuo sitting at the table as he dried his hair, reading the newspaper.

"What are you doing? Why didn't you fix breakfast?" Kazahaya asked him.

Rikuo looked up from the paper and said, "It's your turn idiot."

"CAN'T YOU EVER BE NICE? SINCE I WAS BUSY TRYING TO CLEANSE MYSELF OF YOUR EVIL, YOU COULD HAVE WILLINGLY APOLOGIZED AND FIXED BREAKFAST FOR ME!" He looked around at the chart they kept up to tell each other whose turn it was to fix meals and Kazahaya rounded on Rikuo again seeing that it was his turn.

"YOU'RE THE IDIOT! IT'S YOUR TURN RIKUO!"

Rikuo put the paper down. He came around the table and walked over to Kazahaya. Kazahaya backed up, but then reached the wall and knew he was going to be beaten in whatever Rikuo was going to do.

Rikuo put his hand on the wall and said softly, "I'm sorry Kazahaya..." He moved his free hand to Kazahaya's waist and traveled up and down from his waist to his armpit. His skin was soft and smooth from just coming out of the shower.

Rikuo moved his mouth to Kazahaya's ear and whispered, "Now will you please fix breakfast, we've got a lot to do today at the drug store."

Rikuo was just considering nibbling Kazahaya's ear, but then Kazahaya stiffened. He looked up to see what was up with him. Kazahaya lookd livid.

"YOU PERVERTED JERK! IT'S SIX AM, WE DON'T HAVE TO BE THERE UNTIL EIGHT! NOW GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Kazahaya tried to push him away, but Rikuo, now smiling, wasn't budging. He was taller than Kazahaya, and definetly a lot stronger.

Rikuo forced himself even more on Kazahaya whispering in his ear, "Then let's take the time to get to know each other better."

Kazahaya's face reddened and he felt an odd slipping from his waist. He also found it hard to say the retort he was longing to say, "I...on't...associ...wit...perv...erts!"

Rikuo's force was lifted from Kazahaya, "Fine, I'll leave you alone...for now." And he strode away from Kazahaya, put on an apron, and began fixing breakfast leaving Kazahaya to stand there utterly confused.

"By the way," Rikuo said pouring pancake batter onto a sizzling pan. "You're towel's fallen down." His gaze lingered for a moment on Kazahaya, who snatched up the towel hastily, but it was too late Rikuo was already smiling to himself.

Kazahaya looked down and turned red again. First he had been woken up with _hot_ water, rather than Rikuo's usual cold. Then he had been seduced by his roommate, and THEN his body pressed up against when his towel had fallen down.

Around ten to eight, the two walked down the steps into the Green Leaf Drug Store. Kakei san greeted them in his usual manner before beckoning them into his office for another job offering.

"Another one?" Kazahaya asked him.

"Yes, this time I want to you retrieve a sword for me." He gave them a battered old picture of a small sword.

"Just this?"

"Yes, it's in a place called the KimKim Kimura's Resort," He handed them four tickets, two giving them passes on a train and the other their resort information.

After the two boys had left, Saiga came into Kakei-san's office and asked, "Didn't you tell them?"

Kakei-san smiled, "No, but I'm sure they'll be pleasantly surprised."

"So this is the place?" Rikuo asked Kazahaya, looking at the map Kakei-san had given them.

"Yeah, it looks like it."

The KimKim Kimura's resort was big and a faint smell of jasmine and other flowers and herbs lingered around it. It looked like a traditional Japanese style home, only very, very big.

They walked inside and up to the reception desk to the woman behind it and gave their information. Everywhere there were flowers. It was a beautiful sight to see, but would the sword be in here?

"Yes, Mr. Kuduo and Mr. Himura, your room is..." She broke off and looked like she might burst out giggling.

Kazahaya's eye's narrowed, "What's wrong?"

"Oh!" She looked a little surprised, "Um, nothing, nothing," She handed them a set of hotel keys, "You're in room 306 on the third floor."

They turned away and as they stepped onto the elevator they heard her telling someone, "They're so cute together!"

"What was that about?" Kazahaya asked Rikuo as if he knew all the answers.

"I don't know, maybe Kakei-san's up to something."

They rode the elevator in silence.

**Yes, it's over...FOR NOW! How did you all like it? Grand wasn't it? I left you all hanging in what they will be plesantly surprised with and what's waiting for them in their bedroom, and the two tie together.**


	2. The Not So Pleasant Surprises

**Disclaimer: Next chapter. When two guys, such as Kazahaya (The loud-mouthed one) and Rikuo (The cold, silent, and brooding one) come together in our lovely fanfics, it's so...CUTE! Thank you for all the lovely reviews!**

**Chapter 2: The Not-So-Plesant Surprises**

"WHAAT?" Kazahaya exclaimed upon opening the door. Sure, the room, with Lily flowers around it and a few roses scattered here and there, looked beautiful, but Kazahaya wouldn't be paying attention to that anytime soon.

Rikuo turned and stared at the bed in the middle of the room. Soft sheets and spread. No tacky comforter, fluffy pillows. Perfect view of the television...in other words, he could see what Kazahaya had to complain about, until...

"ONLY ONE BED?" Kazahaya raged.

Rikuo closed the door hurriedly. "Keep your voice down idiot, the people around us will question us."

"I DON'T CARE! WHERE'S THE PHONE! I NEED TO CALL KAKEI-SAN! THIS WAS ALL HIS DOING!"

Kazahaya threw his luggage down onto the floor and it slammed into the unflowered wall. Rikuo put his down gently and took off his coat.

Kazahaya pulled off his coat, threw it onto the floor, and stomped over to the phone, but Rikuo said, "Don't call him, we could just as easily have one of us take the floor."

Kazahaya slammed the phone down and yelled, "BUT THE WHOLE STUPID FLOOR IS COVERED WITH FLOWERS! FLOWERS AND A T.V.!"

"Are you going to calm down, or am I going to have to do it myself?"

Kazahaya, who was about to start raging again, stopped in the middle of what he was going to say, "I CAN CALM MYSELF DO-" He looked over at Rikuo finally taking in his words, "Wait, whaat?"

It was fast. Or Rikuo was faster than Kazahaya. Rikuo leapt onto the bed. As Kazahaya tried to excape his seductive co-worker, Rikuo grabbed his legs and pulled him down.

Rikuo sat on top of Kazahaya, both were breathing fast.

"Now I've got you," Rikuo said, coming close.

Kazahaya flinched. He wanted to get away from Rikuo, but couldn't allow his body to fight and defend himself from being tainted by the pervert.

Rikuo was coming closer. He was too close. Thei lips were almost touching and then...

There was a knock at the door. Rikuo went to go answer it. Kazahaya was breathing fast. He was just sitting up, when Rikuo closed the door and jumped on him again.

"It was the maid giving up extra towels for the bath house."

"Err, right. Umm, can you get off of me?"

Rikuo just stared, "But I thought we'd continue from where we left off..."

"NO WAY! I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING YOU PERVERT! YOU'RE ONLY DOING THIS FOR MY TORTURE!"

Rikuo smiled and got off of him. Kazahaya glared at him. Rikuo threw a towel at him. Night was falling.

"Come on, the maid said most people go to the bath house in the afternoon. And we can get our own private bath."

"Oh we'll get our private bath, you can be on the boys side while I'll stay on the girl's side of our own bath."

Kazahaya stomped out of the room and Rikuo followed him.

Later, Kazahaya was found in the same bath as Rikuo, much to his displeasure. It wasn't fair. He was only doing this to tease him.

He only let his nose and eyes above the surface of the water, and it was quite comfortable.

Rikuo was sitting by the rocks, an elbow resting on one as he watched Kazahaya, who glared at him.

"You're such an idiot Kazahaya."

Bubbles floated from the space where Kazahaya was retorting. He looked down at them and remembered that his mouth was comfortably resting under the water. He stood on his knees.

"How am I an idiot what did I do?"

"Always yelling all the time. I'm surprised I don't get headaches from all of your stupid ravings."

"Whatever," Kazahaya chose not to yell. It was probably just what he wanted. He sank back to the sitting position and tried to relax.

Fireflies were flying around them They both looked up at them. Kazahaya didn't really care, but Rikuo was looking in interest.

After a while of staring, he said, "You know males fireflies like to attract the female ones,"

_Tell me something I care about, please. _Kazahaya thought to himself not knowing where Rikuo was going with this.

"But sometimes," He had a weird glint in his eye that Kazahaya didn't like. Rikuo looked at him, smiling.

"The males will attract another male."

"All right that's it!" Kazahaya stood up completely forgetting he was naked. "I'm out!"

Rikuo closed his eyes still smiling, "Your slender body is much more attractive without any clothes to cover it up."

Kazahaya blushed and furiously ran out of the bath house.

(**A/N: **Sorry guys, but he's NOT naked, he did have sense to put on a robe and slippers.)

Rikuo looked up to the sky and observed the fireflies. "He's so fun to tease," he told himself aloud.

Kazahaya threw himself onto their bed when he got back to the room. He didn't know how in the world he was going to put up with Rikuo if they slept in the same bed. Maybe, if he suddenly slipped out of bed and onto the floor...

Yes, that might work. He hid some extra sheets and pillows under the bed for himself when the time came. Then he got dressed and decided to get a start on looking for the sword (without Rikuo!).

-

When Rikuo finally stepped out of the bath, Kazahaya wasn't in their room. He got dresssed and decided while waiting for him he might as well look for the sword.

After all, it was what they were getting paid to do.

**End.**

**Yes, I AM evil for leaving you all hanging...AGAIN! But alas I will write more.**


	3. The Sword

**Disclaimer: Did anyone get the joke about the name of the resort?**

**Chapter 3: The Sword**

What the hell was Rikuo playing at? Why did he always have to tease him. Kazahaya asked himself this question over and over again and didn't realize where he was walking. He accidentally found himself bumping into the same receptionist that was downstairs.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." Kazahaya apologized politely.

"OH, no..." She looked up at him and he distinctly saw her trying to suppress a giggle again, "It's okay,"

And she walked away, her hand over her mouth, but Kazahaya made out a "He's so cute!", before he went off in the other direction towards the pool area, where he _might_ find some trace of the old sword.

_Damn Bitch..._

-

Rikuo was thinking about how he should wake Kazahaya up the next morning, when he bumped into the odd receptionist from downstairs.

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry..." He apologized.

She looked up into his face, and turned red. Rikuo knew she was suppressing and giggle _again_.

She said, "OH no, it was my fault!" With that, she walked away. Down the hall a little further, Rikuo could hear her laughing her head off, with some other people, presumably other women (by the sounds of their voices) nearly screeching, "SO CUUTE!"

_Women..._

-

It was cold outside at this time of night. Kazahaya shivered as he stepped outside to the pool deck. He wrapped his arms around himself.

There was another person out there. A man standing against the cold. He looked up when he saw Kazahaya and beckoned him closer to him.

"Here kid," He said throwing him a dry towel.

Kazahaya blinked, and then took it, "Thanks," he said.

"What are you doing out here at this time of night kid?" The man had an Osakan accent and wore a straw hat on top of his head.

"I...um, lost something."

"Oh really? What are you looking for?" The man asked curiously.

"Um..." Kazahaya hesistated, maybe the man knew something about the sword. "A sword..."

The man raised and eyebrow, "A sword?"

Kazahaya casted his mind around and the only thing he could think of was Kendo, "Yeah, a Kendo sword. I'm in a club at my school. We're here for a little getaway camp. Boys and girls."

"Really?" The man asked not sounding completely convinced, but he didn't ask anymore questions about it. "You know, there used to be a training ground here for soildiers."

"Really?"

"Yes, it was well hidden. But there was a man here, he was the best of their league. Maybe your instructor came here for good luck?" He asked.

"Um, maybe, he didn't specify."

"Right, well back to the story," He cleared his throat, "In the middle of battle, the soldier went to the medical tent for a check-up, but then they discovered, the 'he' was a 'she'. When the masters found out, they sent her to the Emporer and he bestowed a curse onto her." The man paused and lit a cigarette.

"Well...then what happened?" Kazahaya asked eagerly.

The man took a long drag and continued, "He said that 'No women can be in the army' and decided that she would be cursed to bad accidents if she ever went onto the battlefield again. And what did she do? She went back on, not believing him and kept fighting. She had a fair few injuries, but nothing life threatening until the Emporer heard about it and decided to kill her for disobidience."

"Oh wow, so what did she do? Excape?"

"No, but she was aloud one more visit to someone. Anyone she wanted. Well her family had all died in the war anyway, so she went to go see a wizard. She begged him to take the curse off of her, but he couldn't-"

"WHAT! HE COULD TAKE THE CURSE OFF OF HER?"

"Calm down now, I didn't finish. He couldn't take the curse off of her, without putting it somewhere else. She she asked him to put it in her sword. So he did. Before she died, she wanted to put the sword in the ground under the training ground, where all the flowers were the freshest and cherry blossoms grew plentiful. She buried it, in hopes that no one would ever find it and be cursed. And then she died and no one knows where the sword is, but here."

"Why doesn't anyone look for it?" Kazahaya asked him, still amazed with the odd story.

"Well, they're afraid of the curse. It's said that whoever touches it, will be doomed to the swords decision."

"What do you mean?"

"Well the curse decides what kind of curse you'll have. Whether you'd kill your best friend or fall in love with someone completely unexpected. No one wants to touch it (Superstition mostly) because they don't want to see what curse they might have."

"Wow."

"But hey, that's just an urban myth. The elders around here like to tell it to misbehaving kids to get them scared and threaten them to find it and touch it."

It was time for Kazahaya to go. He thanked the man for the story and the towel and took off.

_That's got to be it! _Kazahaya thought to himself running back to his room, _That has to be the sword! But where to the flowers grow the most beautiful? And the cherry blossoms..._

He entered their room finding it empty.

_Big surprise._

Kazahaya undressed and put on bedclothes, fell back onto the bed and went to sleep instantly.

He would have to tell Rikuo the story in the morning.

**Liked it? And no, I wasn't making a reference to Mulan. It just kind of sparked in my brain and I liked the sound of the idea, so I wrote it down. IMPROVISE! R/R (More Rikuo stuff next chapter!)  
**


	4. The Courtyard

**Disclaimer: ...My mom pulled a Rikuo on me tonight. She came up from behind me when I was on the phone and said, "Say good-bye" cause she needed it and I was like, "Waaaaugh!". I fully appreciate what Kazahaya has to go throught everyday.**

**Chapter 4: The Courtyard**

Rikuo walked back to his hotel room. He had been unsuccessful. Sure, the Courtyard did have a stranged presence, but without Kazahaya to decifer a vision, he had to stop for the night.

When he entered the room, he saw Kazahaya asleep on their bed. Kazahaya was sprawled out on the bed, tangled in the sheets sleeping peacefully.

Rikuo smirked. He would have a fun time waking him up in the morning. Rikuo was considering taking out some of the spare pillows and blankets and sleeping on the floor, but when he looked in all the drawers they were gone.

Surely, the maids had told them that there would definetely be spare blankets and pillows in the drawers. Maybe they made a mistake. He checked the closet; none there either. He had no choice, he would _have_ to sleep in the same bed as Kazahaya. He undressed and went to bed.

-

Rikuo woke up early the next morning to wake Kazahaya up as usual, but couldn't move. Kazahaya had slung his arm around him in his sleep and was gripping him so tightly, it was as if Kazahaya was the cat that wouldn't let go of him the night they had found it. Rikuo gasped as he opened his eyes a little further and found Kazahaya's face a mere centimeters away from his.

Rikuo didn't mean to make his gasp so pronounce, but Kazahaya lifted a sleepy eye, screamed, and fell out of the bed in a tangle of bedsheets, taking Rikuo with him.

"GET OFF OF ME!"

"Hmm, this is a _much_ better way to wake you up,"

They both struggled against the covers, until somebody landed on top of the other in a forceful frenzied tug at on of the bedsheets.

Rikuo was on top of Kazahaya, glaring at him. Kazahaya looked surprised and then angry.

"Get off of me." He said.

"Fine by me," And Rikuo rose, the sheets slipping off of his shoulders as he stood. The sheets fell on top of the still glaring Kazahaya's head.

He stepped over him and crossed to the bathroom muttering, "Idiot,"

"I'LL JUST LIE HERE PRETENDING I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" came Kazahaya's muffled voice from underneath the sheets.

"Good, then maybe you'll shut up!" Rikuo called closing the bathroom door.

"Jerk," Kazahaya said to himself removing the sheets.

-

They went down to the restaurant after they got dressed and Kazahaya told Rikuo about what the Osakan man had said.

"Sounds like a load of bull." Rikuo said taking a sip of his juice.

Kazahaya became angry instantly (big surprise), "HEY! I MIGHT TIE INTO THE-" He broke off as Rikuo pushed a hand to his mouth.

People were starting to stare at them, a few kitchen workers were starting to giggle.

"You idiot, if you keep yelling like that, they'll throw us out."

Kazahaya blushed and didn't say anything or protest to Rikuo's hand over his mouth. Rikuo released him and everyone around them ent back to their conversations.

"I'm just saying, maybe the story is true." Kazahaya said quietly (for once).

Rikuo nibbled on his toast and said, "Well fine, if you can get a vision, of where the flowers are the best in the season and the cherry blossoms, then I'll believe you."

"Well, where's the place?"

Rikuo looked at him, as if he could hardly believe his ears. "In the courtyard idiot! It's obvious. And I was in there looking for the sword last night, and the flowers were in full bloom."

"Well then let's go!"

-

They stepped out onto the courtyard. It was warming up as the sun began to heat the Earth. Kazahaya knelt down and touched the earth.

A rush of images can into his head. A woman, crying clutching something that was very long. She walked over the the center most point of the courtyard, looked around at the beautiful flowers and smiled in spite of her continuous tears. Shre buried the long object she was carrying not too far into the ground. She was suddenly surrounded by traditional samurai, she was being hauled off, still crying and smiling. Then he saw no more.

He gasped as he raised his hand off of the ground.

"What? See something?" Rikuo asked kneeling down beside him.

"Yeah, it was here. I...I saw her. She was so sad." He looked down at the ground.

Rikuo stood up, "Being killed for being a woman...who wouldn't be sad?"

Kazahaya stood up, "Let's go to the center and dig..."

Rikuo, "We have to make sure we don't get caught then."

They dug for a few minutes, and then Kazahaya lashed out, exasperatedly, "It wasn't far into the ground! I saw her dig up less than an inch and burying it."

"Well maybe," Rikuo said annoyed at Kazahaya for giving up so easily,"Over time, more dirt was carried into the area and it got pushed down further."

"Oh," Kazahaya siad returning to the dig, "I never thought about it that way."

"Idiot,"

"Jerk,"

"Dumbass," Rikuo retorted.

"Bastard!"

They dug for sometime until Kazahaya got another rush of images, but it was not from the same woman.

The receptionist was standing outside cheking of the flowers, when a glowing light shone behind her. She turned around and saw the sword. She gasped and then the sword glided to her. She caught it, and then it illuminated. Her eyes slid out of focus. She ran still clutching the sword.

Rikuo, noticing Kazahaya's sudden stop, looked up and saw terror on his face.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"The receptionist..."

"You got another vision?"

"Yeah, the receptionist was looking at the flowers, when suddenly, the ground glowed and the sword fell into her hands and she ran off with it."

They ran out of the courtyard after hastily covering up the spot where they had dug.

"She's cursed!" Kazahaya said to Rikuo.

"Well that's obvious, let's just hope she hasn't killed anyone!" The ran all around the resort, up flights of steps until, finally, on the seventh floor, they found her, aimlessly wandering the halls. She was marking things on clipboard.

"Hey! Ms. Receptionist!" Kazahaya yelled.

She looked up. Rikuo took notice that her eyes were slitting out of focus. He stopped, whereas Kazahaya kept running after her.

"No Kazahaya!" He yelled after him.

The Receptionist was now running towards Kazahaya. He tried to stop, but she was lightning fast and jumped on top of him, her hands twisting around his neck.

Rikuo didn't hesitate to act, he flew down the hall and knocked the girl down, while falling on top of Kazahaya. The woman bumped her head agaisn't the wall. She blinked and her eyes came back into focus.

"Umm," She said, staring down at them.

"What?" Rikuo asked her, "You don't remember anything?"

She blushed furiously, "Umm sir! I must ask you the same question, and in a public hallway!"

Kazahaya stared around at her and distinctly saw something that he knew Rikuo noticed too. An odd aura was looming over the Receptionist's head. As if the curse was leaving her body. It lingered for a few more minutes and then floated down the hall and a narrow strip of light came from inside a nearby closet.

Then what the receptionist said clicked into their brains.

"Kazahaya looked down at the Rikuo on top of him and shouted, "GET OFF OF ME YOU JERK!"

They argued all the while the receptionist blushed and giggled.

_So cute..._

**END! Yes, the curse DID get lifted after the one time use thing. Next chapter...you'll have to guess who gets put under a curse next time.**


	5. Next Victim

**Disclaimer: Yay! Chapter 5. Thank you all for the continuous reviews! I really appreciate them. Yes, hopefully you will all read who gets cursed next!**

**Chapter 5: Next Victim**

After that embarrassing receptionist incident, Kazahaya trudged off to bed extremely angry. He pulled the covers over his head not wanting to talk to Rikuo. He heard the shower running. He dozed for a few minutes before a lump fell down next to him.

Kazahaya shivered in shock as a hand touched his back. The hand was lifted as the huge lump turned over. What was that all about?

After a while, Kazahaya figured Rikuo was alseep. He rolled over, now was his chance to slip out of the bed and get his emergency pillow and blanket stash. He slipped as lightly as he could out of the bed and fell to the floor. He looked under the bed. The pillows were gone.

Shocked and annoyed, Kazahaya moved stealthily towards the drawers. Opening them slowly, he found that there was no restock.

He looked over at the bed with Rikuo sleeping soundly. It couldn't be. No, really he wouldn't go _that_ far!

Glaring at his back he whispered, "Dammit! You evil perverted bastard!"

Not really wanting to return to bed anymore, he pulled on some slippers and decided to leave and look at the sword again. It was about two in the morning.

As soon as the door closed Rikuo opened his eyes. "That idiot," He said sitting up.

He pulled on slippers and followed Kazahaya out of the room.

-

Kazahaya walked up the same set of stairs he and Rikuo had traveled a few hours before. He stood in front of the closet wondering if he should veen dare open it. But curiousity got the better of him and he opened it.

A faint glow illuminated the room. The sword was hovering in the middle of a maid's closet. It would have been pretty if the thing itself wasn't so dangerous. It wasn't rusty, in fact it still retained it's gleaming silver cover. The hilt was threads and fabrics that were artfully wrapped.

Maybe he could take it back now. Yes, there were gloves on one of the shelves next to him. He took one. Maybe it would repel the force of the sword.

He touched it.

-

A great white light was coming from the same closet that Rikuo and Kazahaya had found the receptionist.

"YOU IDIOT!" Rikuo yelled down the hallway. He didn't care if it woke people up, all he knew was that Kazahaya was being cursed in that closet.

The closet door opened before he got to it. He stopped. Kazahaya walked out slowly. The image before him wasn't good.

A woman with great red eyes was glaring down at him. As she glared, she drifted down and her spirit seemed to fall into Kazahaya. His eyes glowed a little for a moment and then he ran.

A guest room door flew open across the hallway in front of the closet. He ran into the open doorway and Rikuo followed.

Kazahaya was standing on the balcony. Rikuo came out and stopped short. It was very cold outside. The pool was below them. Kazahaya was staring at the concrete ground around it.

Rikuo felt that if he said anything, it might be dangerous. Kazahaya's gazed shifted to Rikuo. They stared at each other for a few intense moments and then Kazahayas eyes widened in shocke. He cowered over a lounge chair. He seemed to be fighting with him self.

"Hnrrrgh!" and "Ahhh!" Were the sounds he kept emitting. His legs seemed to be working agianst him. He was walking and wincing over the edge of the balcony. Climbing onto the metal fence, he screamed.

And so did Rikuo, "KAZAHAYA!" Rikuo ran to him and tried to grab him, but it was too late, Kazahaya had already flung himself over the balcony. Rikuo made a few swipes, but Kazahaya was still falling.

Everything seemed to be working in slow procession.

"KAZAHAYA!"

A light silvery something was hovering above Kazahaya. Rikuo gasped at it, but bad decision. Kazahaya was now out of his reach.

"No!"

He was falling. Going to die...He would never see another Christmas.

Rikuo couldn't watch. He moved slowly back towards the wall, covering his face with his hand, he slumped against the wall.

"YOU IDIOT!" He screamed into the morning.

Rikuo couldn't stand it anymore. He stood up and began pounding on the hard wall. "You stupid idiot! I'm going to..." But he was pounding so hard that his hands had started to bleed. It was because the wall was made of the evil concrete people used at the bottom of swimming pools that pick you as you walk along the bottom.

Rikuo was just about to think he didn't give a damn if his hands were bleeding, but then there was a loud splash as if someone had flung themselves into the pool below. His eyes wide, Rikuo ran over to the metal fence and saw A small body floating to the bottom of the hotel's pool.

Rikuo glared below. He bellowed, "IDIOT!"

-

Rikuo reached the pool, thankfully, without running into anyone. He ran so fast he wouldn't be surprised if he had made it in until two minutes. If he didn't get to the pool soon, Kazahaya would die for real this time.

Rikuo hadn't expected it, but the door was open for him. Not really thinking about it, he flung it open and dove into the pool. He brought Kazahaya's body to the surface.

Detecting a small pulse, he tried to make Kazahaya breath. Taking great gulps of breath, he performed CPR (!). It took ten tries to get him to breath again. Lifting his head off of Kazahaya's lips, he fell back onto the cool concrete slowly redrawing his breath.

"Ugh..." Kazahaya moaned. His head was dizzy. What had just happened? He remembered a falling sensation and closing his eyes and ice cold...then something warm on his mouth...

"UGH!" He said a little more loudly.

Panting, Rikuo looked up at Kazahaya and glared. He had just saved his life, what was his problem? "What's the matter with you?"

Kazahaya blushed. Who was this person? His brain was foggy. He was about to say something...but then..._what?_

Then there was darkness.

-

Rikuo sat over Kazahaya's sick and sleeping form after a hot shower drying his hair. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again...you really _are_ an idiot."

Kazahaya was breathing heavily. Rikuo had tried to dry him as best as he could, but Kazahaya was still sick from the intense morning cold of the pool. The hotel must turn off the heating system at night. It got really cold. Rikuo wasn't sick, but he suffered more bodily chills than what a normal person might have.

He had noticed a glove on one of Kazahaya's hand. He figured that Kazahaya might have thought that by wearing the glove, the curse might not have had an effect. The poor idiot was wrong, just as he normally was...

Rikuo looked outside the window. If gloves didn't work, then what would? He looked around the room. Maybe a towel would work...or two towels, just for reassureance. No, no, no...a towel AND a pillow maybe...oh, and a bathrobe.

There, sure the plan was a little too Kazahaya for his taste, but there was no other way. Rikuo trudged upstairs in his pajamas to retrieve the sword. Hopefully his new invention would work against the curse. Did Kakei-san want the sword back in one piece? He could just as easily break it...

Tossing aside the towels, pillow, and bathrobe he walked a little faster down the hallway towards the maid's closet. It was so simple. Why hadn't he thought of it before?

He flung open the door. And there it was. Hovering and beautiful in the maid's closet. Rikuo concentrated all of his energy on the sword and...

**BWAHAHAHAHAHA! YES! I have updated, but the ending...wow. My worst one yet. Don't worry. Hopefully this weekend, I'll update a lot more.**


	6. He Didn't

**Disclaimer: WAAAUGH! Back for a return match. The last chapter was shorter than I had expected it to be. Nooooooooooo. . Waaaaugh. If I break off here, it's probably due to writers block. Err, ….grrrr. The thing I wanted to happen didn't in the last chapter, so…I'll just write it here. And I am so sorry that this wasn't put up sooner. The computer that I write this story on wasn't…well, let's just say I couldn't use it because someone else was occupying it for two weeks…and they'll occupy it again in a few short hours. But now, I FINALLY got the chance to copy the story to THIS computer, so here I am. ENJOY!**

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**Chapter 6: He Didn't**

Rikuo saw a flash of white light, and then a woman appeared. Her red eyes gleamed at him, but she didn't look angry with him. Rikuo stared at her with wide eyes, She said something, she was mouthing wordlessly. Rikuo's eyes widened some more as she became slowly more audible…

_You want something…_

Kazahaya woke up a few hours later from his doze. His head ached when he tried to pick it off his pillow. He had seen Rikuo before that weird floating sensation he had experienced before the falling one. Then it was cold and everything was black, but then something warm…Kazahaya was more intrigued by that warm feeling on his mouth than the rest.

He traced his mouth with his finger. _Do I want chocolate again? _He thought and asked to himself, still tracing his mouth. _No, the chocolate feeling was longing, not warm pleasure…_

He put his head down again and fell back into his doze.

_You want something, but you don't know that you want it._

I want something?

_You do._

Tsukiko?

_That is not a hidden entity._

Then what?

_You'll find it soon…_

Darkness…

Kazahaya woke up suddenly. Someone was telling him that he wanted something. He thought it had been Tsukiko, so it _couldn't_ have been he who the voice was talking to.

_Rikuo…What's wrong?_

Feeling very reckless and worried, Kazahaya got out of bed, much to his head's protest and crossed the room to the door. He was just about to open it when there was a click and a beep, as if someone was coming in.

_Rikuo?_ Kazahaya just stood there in the small hallway before the door as Rikuo opened the door.

A few silent moments passed as they just stared at each other. There was something new in Rikuo that Kazahaya wasn't sure how he could detect it, but knew he didn't like it. But then Rikuo did the weirdest thing…

"Ah! Rikuo get off!" Kazahaya exclaimed smacking his hand away. For Rikuo had just touched his cheek and…_asked if Kazahaya was okay._ A very un-Rikuo thing to do.

"Idiot, I'm trying to be nice."

Wait…that sounded like Rikuo…the real Rikuo that he knew. What was going on?

Kazahaya felt his co-worker's forehead. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

More surprises. Rikuo neither looked like he was going to hit Kazahaya's hand away nor did he look annoyed. He…smiled. Sure, he actually did that, but it was a happy smile. He looked happier than he usually was at seeing Kazahaya being teased.

"Oh, you're worried about me?" Rikuo flung his arms around Kazahaya and Kazahaya nearly collapsed under his weight. "That's almost…sweet."

Sweet? Rikuo only uses words like those to describe chocolate! Not people! Especially not…ME! 

Rikuo broke his embrace and sat down on the bed. Kazahaya turned to him and stared at him in utter shock. Rikuo started to laugh.

"You're looking at me as if you've seen a ghost!"

"I'm not so sure…"

"What's that?" Rikuo asked him, not catching what his co-worker had said.

"Uhh, nothing!"

Rikuo eyed him skeptically, "Right…well!" He drummed his fingers and smiled around the room, going totally against what Kazahaya had come to think of as the 'Rikuo code of Conduct'.

1. NEVER smile unless you have to.

2. When Kazahaya is being tortured, this DOES count as when you 'have to' smile/smirk.

3. Eat chocolate whenever you can

4. Brood

and...

5. always, ALWAYS, _ALWAYS _tease Kazahaya at every possible moment.

"Um," Rikuo was staring at Kazahaya as if Rikuo was a younger girl and Kazahaya was an older boy she wanted to ask out. "So err, what do you want to…do today?"

Kazahaya just gaped at him.

_What's going on with me?_

The words were just pooring out of his mouth. He wanted to stop it, he tried to stop it, but he _couldn't_ stop it. He didn't want to say the words…he was _smiling_ at Kazahaya like he was a school girl and soon he would be blushing and giggling. He knew it.

And then of course it came. First the blush, hopefully he would never allow himself to give in to giggling, but he blushed as he saw the look on Kazahaya's face. It was as if Rikuo thought Kazahaya was an older schoolboy who was about to turn in down.

"Err, you know, we don't have to do anything, so I guess we should look for that sword again!" He said springing up.

"Um, yeah…the sword." Kazahaya said with a look on his face that suggested that Rikuo was losing it.

_Rejection…_

Rikuo lagged a little behind Kazahaya as they left the room. What the hell was happening to him? What was he doing with Kazahaya?

They walked down the corridor towards the sword. They had remained silent for the entire trip upstairs. No one was around as usual. Most of the hotel-goers were at the outdoor pool or taking mountain hikes to get a good haul of fun before the warm weather abated and it became cold again.

Kazahaya opened the closet door once more. Then…

"IT'S GONE!"

"What?" Rikuo exclaimed turning to look into the closet too. It _had_ gone. He had a bad feeling that it was he who had done something to make it move, but didn't know how when he couldn't touch it.

"DAMMIT!" Kazahaya yelled while slamming the door. A few cleaning supplies were heard fall to the floor. Kazahaya knelt down on the floor, his head in his hands. Thinking, _Kakei-san's going to kill us…he'll kill us, well wait, Rikuo will put up a fight and he'll only kill _me! And thus his floppy ears came out as he looked down at his knees thinking he'll never get paid on a job again.

Rikuo bent over him, "Don't get so down. We'll just have to try and find it again. Let's go take a bath so we can relax and…um, think more clearly." Rikuo ended his last note a little nervously. Against his inner will, he was hoping that Kazahaya would be wanting to come.

"Um…" Kazahaya looked into Rikuo's eyes. Wait…was Rikuo…! SMILING NOT IN A NASTY WAY? In complete shock, Kazahaya's mouth fell open and he just gaped at the other boy. Nice, hot bath or not, Rikuo looked like he was making a peace offering and like he _understood how Kazahaya felt! _The horror of it all.

A few silent moments passed between them. Finally Rikuo's expression changed and he now looked really sad. He said, "Oh, I knew you probably wouldn't want to, but all the same…" He straightened up and turned to maybe walk down the hall and brood in their bedroom, but then he felt a grip on his arm.

It was Kazahaya, he stood up and stood next to Rikuo. They stared at each other. Kazahaya for some reason didn't want to make Rikuo upset. Either it was because Rikuo could easily tear him apart later or maybe it was something…else. But Kazahaya couldn't work out what the other thing was.

"Uh, no, let's go take a bath."

Rikuo stared at him, "Okay," He said turning away, he had stared to blush and that was a very un-Rikuo-like thing to do. He pulled his arm out of Kazahaya's grip.

They took an uneventful afternoon bath. Rikuo didn't make any more bug comments which Kazahaya was grateful for.

"Maybe it's outside." Kazahaya suggested after a while.

"Swords don't open closet doors and walk out by themselves."

"Shut up."

"You're the idiot."

"I was merely _suggesting_ that maybe someone ELSE, whilst cleaning could have…OH SHIT!" If some innocent maid walked into that closet and touched the sword…he didn't even want to think about it!

He looked over at Rikuo, "Come on, we've got to go!" When Rikuo didn't move he said louder, 'YOU IDIOT IF SOMEONE ELSE HAS TOUCHED THAT THING—" Then it dawned on his that Rikuo was…blushing. "Um, Rikuo, what's wrong?" The wind blew. Kazahaya suddenly felt cold. Wait ,the water was hot…err.

"GAAAAAH!" Kazahaya yelled, got out of the bath, grabbed his robe and ran for it.

When Kazahaya had calmed down a bit, he and Rikuo set out looking for the sword. All the maids _seemed _to be acting normal, but since the sword changed it's curse every person, they didn't know what else to think, so they went with Kazahaya's plan to search the grounds. They found nothing. They even played mini golf to see if the sword would appear suddenly if you made a hole in one, but alas, nothing happened.

>>>

"I GIVE UP!" Kazahaya said slamming himself onto the bed. They had just changed, Kazahaya in the bathroom, for bed. Kazahaya whipped the covers all over himself. Rikuo just stared at his back before he went to sleep himself.

This was completely unfair. They should have been back by now even if there was no time limit for this mission. The situation was getting annoying. How were he and Rikuo supposed to find that damn sword…

"_DAMMIT!"_ Kazahaya whispered loudly to himself. He flung the covers off himself in a half-effort to not wake Rikuo up, crossed the room, went down the little hallway, left the bedroom, climbed the stairs, and found himself finally outside the cleaning supplies closet where the sword had been.

_I'm such an idiot! Why didn't I use my power before?_ Kazahaya thought angrily to himself. He grabbed the knob outside the door and could extract nothing. Suddenly the face of Rikuo appeared in his mind as he opened the door saying, 'I told you you were and idiot'.

Glaring at the door, he touched the knob inside of the door. There he extracted…

Rikuo glaring at the sword that was hovering before him, he stared at it with concentration…A woman with red eyes hovering over the sword…A half-petrified, half-annoyed Rikuo looking up at her. She was mouthing wordlessly. A flash of light and…then there was no more.

"Rikuo?" Kazahaya fell to the floor, still clutching the doorknob, "Rikuo's cursed?"

Rikuo felt over the sheets where Kazahaya was supposed to be sleeping, but found it was only sheets.

Rikuo sat up instantly, "Huh?" Kazahaya couldn't…no, he hadn't, "IDIOT!" Rikuo jumped out of bed and was in the process of pulling on slippers and going out the door when a flash of white light came before him, hovering over the door.

Rikuo just stared at it, unable to speak, but then a woman materialized out of it. A red-eyed and glaring woman. He stared at her petrified and angry.

"You…you made me do all this! Against my will!" He yelled at her.

_I only made you see what you wanted. Your dark demeanor dropped and you would—_

"You bitch! No one in their right mind would like Kazahaya! Especially not another guy!"

She smiled and wrapped her hands around Rikuo. _Then perhaps you are not in your right mind…_

Another flash of white light, and then there was darkness.

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**To be continued…**

**And all that jazz. YES! I'm finished! And I really am sorry for not updating sooner. But now it's spring break, I'll hopefully be able to start writing much more often. R&R**


	7. A Special Surprise

**Disclaimer: Okay. I just had the most WONDERFUL idea. I'm deciding to have a little contest for you all.**

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**

Okay, so I'm on super writer's block and have not a lot of time to write due to the demanding 10 and a half hours spent at school (I play lacrosse) and then more hours on homework and just a lack of better ideas, I'm deciding that you all can choose to participate or not. I don't mind:)

If no one cares about this, then I'll just write it myself, but here goes!

**CONTEST:**

Well actually there's two. Whoever can come up with:

1. The **_BEST _**first five to eleven (You can have a couple more if you're really into it ) paragraphs (and dialogue) of the seventh chapter.

**_AND/OR_**

2. The best two paragraph (and dialogue) for what Kakei/Saiga may be doing back at the Drug store...

_**YOU WIN:**_

1. A lovely and well thought-out recognition in this story and one other story of your choosing (see my site)--You'll basically be in an entire chapter of this story and however long-standing role in another story I'm writing or may write in future (again, see my site).

**_AND_**

2. I'll use your stuff in his story and/or my Kakei/Saiga fic that I'm writing after this one is completed. (For full details, see my site. It's called, _When We're Alone_.)

So, I hope that some of you participate. I have an extremely general and very vague idea of what I want in the seventh chapter, but I bet you guys can come up with some more exciting stuff.

All submissions must include:

1. First name only (or what you'd like to be called in the story)

2. Your entry (obviously)

3. Some sort of un-Rikuo-like thing that Kazahaya comes to witness upon coming back to ask Rikuo if he really truly is cursed.

4. Correct grammar and punctuation (if you skip over something or forget, I won't mind.)

So good luck to all participants, if there are any, and if there are, maybe, a couple of REALLY good ones, I'll let you know and you'll all be recognized.

All submissions must be sent to mdaidoujisan at yahoo (the site won't let me put it in the right way:( )

**GOOD LUCK!**

Love from,

Jill Rocca

I'll make the deadline for this Saturday May 21st. Don't forget to take your time and concentrate! Please also send submissions in either a Microsoft Word document of an Open Office document. I THINK I can open the document if it's on a notepad program, but I'm not too sure. OR You could copy and paste it to an e-mail document too.

_**IF YOU PLAN TO PARTICIPATE:**_

Send me and email with:

1. Your first name  
and  
2. What contest you are participating in

Send these in by April 27th. I want to see how many people want to participate.

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**Thanks to all those who are planning to participate!**


	8. A Letter to the Masses

**Contest Part 2:**

:sniffs: I have about two people participating, which isn't much of a contest...If anyone wanted to participate and didn't make the application deadline, then, it's okay, just turn something into me by May 21 and all will be right in the world. I really don't mind it if you're late, everyone should get a chance if they want to.

But perhaps, I should offer a better prize...hmm...:thinks:

But anyway...Yes, "DracoDormiens7" my '_damn_ story'. I'm sorry I have a lot of other things to do, but I thought that if I started this, maybe people would be interested in giving me their views on how the story would go on, and it would get updated a lot faster. Plus, it's almost the end of the school year for me, so the chapters would just keep coming. This is just a healthy start.

But alas, if any of you feel that you can't write, really, let _me _be the judge, it's not like I'm going to say you suck, because honestly, when I started this story, I didn't think it would go down as well as an R-chan story, but a lot of people like it, so I was really happy. Plus if I steer in the wrong direction, at least you'll have some say in where the story goes.

Jill


	9. How to Deal

**Disclaimer: Back...FINALLY with the contest winner! Congrats to ayumuinblue. :Sigh: I was re-reading this and at around chapter 3 I found errors:Cries: (Yes, I get really annoyed if I make stupid mistakes...even if I do check it!) And sadly—to become more pathetic—I found the word 'excape' instead of 'escape'...I CHECKED IT I TELL YOU, I DID! I DID:Feels you are not completely convinced and goes to hide away in a corner: ...:sniffs: "A quiet, but audible 'I did...' can be heard if you are really quiet..."**

**Anyway, ayumu in blue's opening ends at, "...Hurry up it'll be so romantic!"**

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**Chapter 7: How to Deal**

So everything that had happened had been the curse's fault? The thought made Kazahaya feel so relieved to know the cause of Rikou's change in personality. Still, a part of him admitted to himself, that he would miss the kinder gentler side of him …

No!

Rikou was Rikou!

Even if he was a damn jerk, that nastiness was part of who he was! This side of him wasn't him at all. That stupid, stupid curse! There had to be something they could do about it. There just had to be a way to get him back to the way that he used to be. These stupid jobs always had to be so difficult!

Well at least now he had a place to start from. He had to figure out a way to free Rikou from the curse, and get the sword back to the store.

Kazahaya closed the closet with a firm thud. He knew what he had to do… well sort of, and he had to be ready for the absolute worst!

For now he had to remember that Rikou wasn't Rikou anymore, there was no way he was going to let that stupid curse prevail!

He stomped down the hallway and the stairwell, nodding and mumbling to himself. He was going to win!

Still a part of him worried. The first time he had seen the curse it had been a one-time deal. It had just went away… was Rikou like that too? He'd been acting strange all day; perhaps since he fell asleep he wasn't cursed anymore?

Kazahaya gnawed at the corner of his mouth wondering is things were all right? If Rikou wasn't possessed anymore then everything was fine right?

He stared at the door and wondered what he was going to do… was he just going to walk through the door and ask? What if Rikou was still asleep in there? Should he wait until morning? What if this time it was permanent?

The questions that kept going over and over in his mind were slowly driving him crazy. He shook his head violently determined to find an answer. He had to know.

Rikou was fine right?

Taking a deep breath he reached up and laid his hand on the door handle. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to open it or not.

Kazahaya, get a grip!

"Kaza-chan, you shouldn't be out here you should be in bed! You naughty boy you!"

Kazahaya could feel shivers going down his back.

Kaza…-chan?

Slowly his eyes followed the carpet over to the bare feet besides him. He forced himself to look up at the person standing there right next to him holding a bottle of wine in an ice bucket.

"Well since you're awake, we have a absolutely beautiful view of the night stars from our balcony, Kaza-chan! Hurry up it'll be so romantic!"

Rikuo grabbed his hand and proceeded to take Kazahaya out into the star-filled sky.

Kazahaya, who was extremely tired and needed to sleep on the ever piling thoughts and assumptions that seemed to have been steadily building up all night. Now that it was apparent that Rikuo _was_ still cursed, he needed some sleep to try and relax and deal with this as a well as he possibly could.

"But, I don't want--"

Rikuo turned back to him, a grin on his face as he pulled back the sliding door and ushered his co-worker outside, "Nonsense," He said closing the door behind him and Kazahaya felt trapped. "It's absolutely beautiful out here...just like...just like, you..."

Kazahaya froze. Right there. He was standing in the middle of their balcony just frozen. He had no idea what to do, what to say, or how to react. How the hell was he supposed to respond to..._that_? It wasn't very often that Rikuo praised someone's looks at all.

So Kazahaya chose this time to end the startling silence between them to say," Umm, Rikuo?" He knew he sounded stupid, but what else was there to say?

Kazahaya didn't turn around, but soon he found big, strong arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders. Rikuo pressed the cold ice bucket to Kazahaya's chest as he intensified his embrace.

And again, Kazahaya just stood there feeling like an idiot.

But now was not the time. If he didn't ask now, then he probably would never. He would just have to ask flat out, and maybe a shocked Rikuo would get off of him. Kazahaya's knees were starting to buckle down under Rikuo's considerable weight.

"Umm, Rikuo?"

"Yes?" Came a deep voice inside his left shoulder blade.

"Um..UM! ...are you cursed?" The words just tumbled out of his mouth.

There was a pause in which Rikuo lifted his head and let it sit on top of Kazahaya's shoulder. A little weight was released which made Kazahaya's knees very happy.

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, I mean," Kazahaya looked at Rikuo, "Are you? Because, because I'll--"

"What curse? I never went near that sword, speaking of which, do you know where it is now? Because when I went to go look for it before we went to sleep, it wasn't there..."

_Damn, he doesn't remember anything? This makes my life soo much **easier**_...

"Um, no, I haven't seen it," Kazahaya said trying to play along with it.

Rikuo finally released his grip from Kazahaya and smiled at him playfully. He asked, "What? Just because I'm displaying my affection for you means that I'm cursed? Not acting normal at all?"

_Actually...THAT'S EXACTLY IT YOU ASSHOLE!_ Kazahaya was longing to reply some of his normal rage was building up inside of him. If that asshole knew, oh, if only he knew... It just wasn't fair. Why did everything get stuck on him? _And since when has he ever had affections for me?_

Well, Rikuo _had_ saved him a lot in the past before. He guessed he kind of did owe something to Rikuo, but dealing with him like this? When he was so out of character that Kazahaya just wanted to run and hide under their bed. Romantic and nice Rikuo was scary. Which was weird now that he thought about it, but he had been too used to Rikuo's evil ways to really care about his abnormal preferences.

"Right, so about this wine!" Rikuo said suddenly. He put the bottle and ice on the table and sat two crystal glass flutes onto the table. "It's red you know," He said as he began to pour it, "So it'll make us...hmm, _get in the mood_, if you know what I mean anyway," He was smiling mischievously at Kazahaya as he finished pouring it, like he was planning something. Kazahaya didn't like that look at all. Just what was Rikuo planning on doing to him?

"Umm, right," They were both under aged, but maybe the part on dealing with it, was to go along with whatever Rikuo wanted. Kazahaya wondered if that was what the curse was all about. Maybe if he just did whatever Rikuo ever wanted, he would get the old Rikuo back by morning.

But wait...

Was this curse...

WAS RIKUO'S CURSE TO LIKE HIM?

The Osakan guy had told him that the curse could be anything, suicide, anger, happiness, even feelings of...love. No, Rikuo didn't have any feelings for him...but wine was supposed to be really romantic for couples. And wine was also supposed to be special for... but no! Rikuo would never do that to him! But he really didn't know right now...Rikuo could probably do anything with that curse on him. But he might as we go along with it so that Rikuo didn't get too suspicious.

"So Kaza-chan! Let's toast!" Rikuo said grabbing his glass and holding it in the air.

Kazahaya grabbed his glass and said, "Um, too what?" _Just go along with it, just go along with it..._

"To us!" They clinked their glasses and took a sip, Rikuo went on, "Ah, and of course we have to make sure we toast to Kakei-san too!"

"For what?"

"Because if he hadn't given us this job and I didn't go on it with you, I would have never realized my feelings for you!" Rikuo laughed whole-heartedly and look a long gulp.

_He's being...really forward..._ Kazahaya thought to himself.

"Why aren't you drinking anything? You don't like me?" Kazahaya could see...and he wish he didn't, a pout...a literal _pout_ placed on Rikuo's lips. Kazahaya was dying to scream, "WHAT THE HELL!" But downed his drink in one gulp to stop himself.

And he wished he hadn't. All at once, everything seemed to be spinning. He felt so dizzy, the thought of it made him so sick. He closed his eyes, but even his thoughts seemed to be spinning all around.

He was about to pass out, he knew it, but somehow, he had to stay awake just to keep an eye on Rikuo.

"Yay! I feel so loved!" Rikuo said happily.

Kazahaya took several deep breaths as he tried to make the spinning stop. When it finally did, he realized that Rikuo was pouring them both some more.

Kazahaya began to protest, "Oh, no, I don't think I can--" He watched in horror at the amount of wine Rikuo was pouring him.

"Go on! Drink up!" Rikuo was planning something, Kazahaya knew it now...he prayed that nothing extremely bad was going to happen to him.

* * *

By about 12:30 pm, Kazahaya was completely wasted. Wasted on that wine. Once he downed the second flute because of that damned pout, Kazahaya couldn't stop. So it was no surprise that he had drank most of the bottle, and Rikuo had barely any. Maybe that was Rikuo's plan, but Kazahaya wasn't thinking about that. He knew of his surroundings, but he didn't care. Everything was so blissful...and happy, kind of floaty. 

"Kaza-chan," Someone was calling his name...oh, that was Rikuo.

Kazahaya turned around and smiled stupidly through his drunkenness. "Hwiiiii, WiiiikuOH!" He slurred. He collapsed into Rikuo's arms. It felt so comfortable. The warmth was of the purest bliss. Kazahaya vowed to get drunk more often.

He felt arms carrying him and then placing him down on something soft and feathery...warm...oh, that was the bed. So this was what one looked like. He started laughing and banging his arms on the bed.

The bedsheets were as white as snow. He waved his arms and legs up and down on the bed. "Luuk WiiiikuOH! I'm mekkin' ah schnow angel!" He began to cheer, "Ish it purty?"

"Rikuo laid down right next to him, when he had finally stopped and said, "Yes, it's very pretty...Kazahaya..."

"Why yoo callin' mee by my firsht naaame?" He asked.

"Because you call the people you care about most by their first name,"

"Oh!" Kazahaya said finally understanding. "Show, yoo like meh?"

Even though it was dark Kazahaya could see Rikuo blushing.

"No way!" Kazahaya said suddenly, looking very shocked. He placed a hand to Rikuo's hot cheek and said, "Ah nefer knew yoo cuuld look dis cuote! Yoo should do it mer ofen, iss nice! Yoo always look sooooooo mean... ann, you ach it tooo!"

When Rikuo didn't say anything, Kazahaya proceeded to stroke Rikuo's cheek gently. He never knew Rikuo's face was so...soft. It was pretty too. But a rough and boy-ish pretty, more like sexy, because Rikuo was so sexy. The sexiest thing...

But anyway, Kazahaya was very tired and cheek stroking was very hard work. So he fell back onto the covers and uttered a 'goose-night' and then everything was dark.

He felt something slump down next to him and it was warm, but he didn't really care. Just as long as he got his sleep...

* * *

When Kazahaya woke up the next morning he had the biggest headache of his life. Whatever the hell had caused this headache, and he assumed it was his mounting problems, would have to be dealt with immediately. 

But wait...the problems weren't it...No one had THIS much of a headache with just a few problems. Sure they were pretty major, but this headache...it was as if someone had come in a bashed a very large rock on his head about ten times. He was lucky he hadn't died.

_Wine..._

That was right...he evidently had a hang-over. No matter, as long as nothing bothered him and he went down to the hotel store as soon as he was feeling a little better, he would buy some Eki-kyabe. He had to sell it sometimes in the store for people with hang-overs. So he hoped it would help him.

He rolled over and was greeted by Rikuo's slow and heavy breathing. If he didn't have this pounding headache, he might have screamed and crawled away, desperate to get away from his co-worker. Was he still cursed?

Rikuo's eyes snapped open and he smiled, "Morning, Kaza-chan!" He sad cheerfully.

Kazahaya nearly cried, _Yeah, he's still cursed..._

What was it going to take to get Rikuo back to normal? This just wasn't fair at ALL.

"Got a headache Kaza-chan?" He asked, after Kazahaya rubbed his temples after thinking his last thought.

"Um, yeah,"

"Well," Rikuo's voice suddenly sounded a lot deeper and husky as he said, "You did drink a lot last night...it was fun,"

_OH. MY. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD! What did we do last night? I only remember drinking too much, but we didn't do anything dirty? Did we? OH GOD!_

"We didn't do anything did we?" Kazahaya asked too quickly for his headache.

"Hmm, well, I'll go downstairs and get you some Eki-Kyabe!" Rikuo suggested, not really answering Kazahaya's question, which freaked him out even more.

Kazahaya shot out of bed ignoring the excruciating pain, which was hard and required more head movement, "I'll...I-I'll come with you!" He said putting his head in his hands. He pulled on some clothes and moved towards the door with Rikuo who had also gotten dressed.

Rikuo didn't tell him anything the whole way down the elevator, Kazahaya was getting annoyed and extremely antsy with his headache. He pursued Rikuo into the main lobby. He got really annoyed for no reason when Rikuo suddenly stopped and he bumped into him.

"Ow! What the hell--" Kazahaya said, but then, he realized that Rikuo was glaring at someone. "Hey, why're you--"

"Receptionist," Rikuo said, moving away.

Kazahaya just stood there dumbstruck. He did see that receptionist from all the duration of this trip, and sure she did come off as annoying, but he couldn't think of why Rikuo was so annoyed and glaring at her like that.

"Hey!" She said, suddenly realizing that she was being stared at. She and another receptionist came over to greet Kazahaya.

"Hi!" Said the other one.

"Umm, hi..." Why did they look so cheerful?

"Enjoy your wine?" They asked in unison.

"Oh, um, yeah..." Kazahaya said. So that was it, they were the deliverers of the wine that had brought him so much pain. Maybe they had annoyed Rikuo when they brought it up last night asking weird fangirl questions, no wonder Rikuo was trying to avoid her.

"Can we take you out to breakfast?"

"Umm," Kazahaya said, not really knowing if it was against resort policy to go dining with the hotel-goers, but they were already dragging him off to the nearest eating place in the hotel, and there were many, it was such a wast expanse.

The host sat them down immediately, and of course the host had to be female and of course the girls just had to have great, giggly, whispered conversations with each other.

Kazahaya couldn't do anything about it with his hangover. And they were treating him to a free breakfast, so he might as well enjoy it, but if they were going to ask questions...

"So, what did you guys do last night!" Asked the main receptionist. Kazahaya took note of her name tag, it said 'Jill Rocca' on it. What a weird name...

"Umm, that's really..."

"Oh come on! You guys are so cute together!" Said the new one, he saw her tag read 'Ayumu Blue'...She took notice of his condition. He was in such pain..."Hey, are you okay?" She asked.

"Is it a hangover?" The one named Jill asked.

"Yeah," Kazahaya just figured he'd be polite and respond. Who knew, maybe they could help him learn to deal with Rikuo.

"Oh, don't worry, we already asked them for a mix that's sure to cure it!"

"That's very nice of you," He said lamely.

Ayumu spoke next, "So what's up, having love trouble?"

"WHAT! NOO!" Kazahaya said too loudly for his headache. He groaned, slumped down onto the table, and was very aware of everybody in the restaurant staring at them. They all quickly returned back to their banter quickly, which he was grateful for.

"Geez, sorry we were just asking!"

"I'm sorry..."

"So it _is_ love trouble, that's so cute, you DO like him!" Ayumu pressed on.

"It's really none of your business..." Kazahaya knew he was being rude, they were also being quite rude.

"OKAY! So we help your friend out last night and now we're helping your hangover and there's no thanks in it at all?" Jill asked sounding mad.

"Fine, you want to know the truth, fine! He's not acting like he should be, it's so weird..." Kazahaya began. He told them everything...except about the sword, which was hard to get around, but the crucial thing was that they understand that Rikuo wasn't Rikuo anymore.

"Hmm, he's probably just bottled up his feelings for too long..." Ayumu said.

"What?" Kazahaya asked. This random encounter with the receptionists really got him thinking. He wondered if Rikuo really had liked him all along and this was his curse. To finally open up, which was what he really didn't want to do.

"Listen," She went on, but there was something about the new seriousness that had taken over them...it was as if they knew something he didn't. "You should probably just talk to him if you care about him so much..."

"But I don't! Well, I sort of do, I just want him...back to normal, all right? No romantic feelings involved." He had no idea why he had just poured out his soul these women, but he needed some ventilation for his mounting problems.

She took a sip of some coffee she had ordered before and said, softly, "That curse isn't going to go away, unless you make it go away, you're his only hope..."

* * *

**Wow...I'm sorry! I just HAD to end it there...but anyway, ayumu in blue, you didn't get much here, but next chapter shall be yours and mine. I'm so glad I updated though...that took me so long...longer then I thought, that's why I had to cut it short. Sorry 'bout that, but I'll probably end up writing the next chapter tomorrow or Tuesday.**

**WELL! THAT'S IT, YOU FINALLY GOT YOUR NEXT CHAPTER! Isn't everyone excited?**


	10. A Date to Be Remembered

**Disclaimer: Here be your next chapter of heart of the sword.**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 8: A Date to be Remembered**

"_What?_" Kazahaya froze for about the millionth time. And for about the millionth time, he didn't know what to say. It was unfortunate for him that he did not know how to react to these women who evidently knew about the cursed sword, but fortunate that they could evidently help him out.

"Did you ever think that his curse would be to reveal feelings he's never shown before?"

"No..." Wait...RIKUO COULD NOT LIKE HIM! It just wasn't possible. Not fair either...nothing seemed to be going his way. All he really wanted was to get to the resort, take a bath, grab the sword, some food, rest, and then hit the road again back to the drugstore. It _should_ have been simple enough.

"Well, if you don't give him what he wants..."

"What?" He didn't like the sound of their voices...

"Something very bad is going to happen..."

Startled he didn't say anything, they reminded him of someone...and it wasn't very pleasant...

* * *

Those goddamn receptionists. When they came to bring up the gift wine and gave him all that advice on what he should do to Kazahaya once he was properly drunk didn't work at all. For Kazahaya had passed out before he _could_ do anything, and they assured him, Kazahaya would have stayed up for at least an hour after drinking.

But it didn't work...

But why did he care? It wasn't as if he liked Kazahaya. That would be absurd. He kept telling himself that, but the way he kept acting around him. The words constantly pouring out of his mouth. And it felt good to say them...but inside his mind, it was not as pleasurable.

It must have been that spirit woman. And her stupid floating sword. So this was what it was like to be cursed...being extremely aware of your surroundings and unable to do anything about it. No one deserved this. It was too painful...

But maybe he had felt some repression in the few months that he knew Kazahaya, but had always kept his feelings hidden. He never left out an excuse to touch them though, or see his face, and only his face in the morning.

He bought some Eki-Kyabe for Kazahaya in the hotel store, while trying to avoid those receptionists asking him annoying fangirl questions.

When he got back to where he left Kazahaya standing, he was gone. Cursing his luck, he looked all around, and saw through a restaurant window Kazahaya nursing a headache and looking shocked and talking to the annoying receptionists.

He glared at the window for a minute, then remembering that that wasn't going to help his situation, he walked inside.

After and annoying interrogation by the host, he finally managed to convince her that he was with the party of three. He nearly flew to them, supreme anger in his eyes at their daring of taking his precious Kazahaya away from him, especially when he was in such pain. But Rikuo would take care of that, he was the only one who could ease the poor boy's suffering and--

OH GOD WHAT WAS HE THINKING!

But he was still glaring at them all, because first their advice failed him, and now, they stole him...and...he needed to just _stop_ thinking about Kazahaya. But first thing was first. They were leaving.

He stood behind Kazahaya glaring menacingly at the two receptionists. Kazahaya looked stunned to find Rikuo standing and looking so fierce right behind him. They had just taken him out to breakfast.

"Umm, Rikuo?" Kazahaya asked. Rikuo looked ready to kill. He wasn't saying anything, but just glaring down at the receptionists.

Finally he turned to Kazahaya and said, "We're leaving," And he literally dragged Kazahaya out of the restaurant.

Ayumu smiled at them and said, "My, my, isn'the the protective one?" To which Jill chuckled.

* * *

"Hey Rikuo! You can stop dragging me now," Kazahaya said. Rikuo was now dragging him up the stairs to their room. He was gripping Kazahaya's hand painfully tight and Kazahaya was scraping his knees on the carpet trying to keep up with Rikuo's strides.

"Ow! Rikuo that really hurts..." He said, and Rikuo stopped to look at him.

Oh shit, was he hurting Kazahaya? Right after he had just vowed to always ease his suffering whatever the suffering may be? He stopped and let go of Kazahaya's hand and continued up the stairs.

"Rikuo?"

Rikuo heard it, but didn't want to respond. This curse was really starting to grasp hold of him and he really didn't know how he was going to fix his condition.

"I had a dream last night," He said quietly to Kazahaya as they continued to ascend the stairs.

"What?" Kazahaya hurried to catch up with him on the stairs.

"The spirit of the sword told me that I would be fully curse really soon, so..."

"Wait, what? Spirit of the sword? There's a spirit! Wait, tell me more! Please!" Kazahaya persisted.

This was all too weird, so Rikuo _knew_ he was cursed? He actually knew about it? But if he was still conscious, why did he persistently act really strange around him? But maybe that was just a random spurt of Rikuo unable to think clearly. So from time to time he did have his head, but fully cursed? Kazahaya didn't know if he could handle that kind of Rikuo...

"So, I'd appreciate it if you found a way to take away the curse," Rikuo went on, completely ignoring Kazahaya's question. And then he said no more.

* * *

By nighttime, Rikuo had another weird spurt. He kept asking Kazahaya to kiss him and hold his hand out and public, and he kept giving him the weirdest smiles. Like he was really happy to be out with him that evening. Kazahaya remembered Ayumu's words of giving Rikuo what he wants to help lift the curse, and this caused him to agree to go out on a date.

_All right, I'm only going out with him for the sake of relieving the curse from Rikuo. I want the old Rikuo back! _Kazahaya told himself in his mind as they walked down the stairs to go to a small restaurant that people their age went to and met up on the far side of the resort. They passed through a great garden, much bigger than the courtyard filled with big trees and small rows of flowers growing around them.

They walked along a stone pathway, Rikuo making varied attempts to hold his hand. Kazahaya had put on the best clothes he had packed for the evening just for Rikuo's approval, but there was no way he was going to walk into a public restaurant and be openly gay about himself. No way would he go that far.

It was bad enough that he was nervous as it was since he had never ever gone on a date before in his life. He really hadn't pictured his first date being with Rikuo, the person he least liked, all just to save his co-worker's sanity. No, wasn't a date supposed to be with two people who actually liked each other?

He sighed, if he didn't find out the way to make the curse go away fast he was in for a load of hell, and he knew that. But hopefully Rikuo would be reasonable on their date.

As they continued to walk on the long garden path—many people took different garden routes here to explore the garden—Rikuo asked him if Kazahaya was enjoying himself yet.

"Oh!" Kazahaya started, taken by surprise. He was so lost in thought about what he was going to do on his first date, what he was going to say, etc, that he didn't even notice that Rikuo was holding his hand. It came as an even bigger shock to find that Rikuo was staring at him with the most loving look...it was so sweet and Rikuo looked so earnest about it, that Kazahaya blushed slightly.

"Well?" Rikuo asked, still with that loving expression.

Kazahaya looked down, blushing, "Umm, yeah," He said.

"I'm glad!"

Kazahaya was still looking at his feet when they reached the place and remembered that Rikuo was still hanging onto his hand.

"Umm, Rikuo?"

"Yes?" Rikuo said, opening the door.

"Can you let go of my hand?"

Rikuo frowned slightly, but then said, "Okay," He said and he let go. Kazahaya sighed with relief, no one had to think they were dating...

"Kaza-chan! Let's go in!" Came Rikuo's happy voice.

Kazahaya thought he sounded upset when he let go of his hand, but now he was considerably more cheerful. As cheerful as say, the time he had offered Kazahaya a bottle of wine.

Kazahaya didn't like Rikuo cursed. It made him bi-polar.

They entered a more modern setting for the traditional Japanese home that they were staying in. Teens were dancing to some modern music, there was a bar over in the corner, and a restaurant. Some people were even smoking here. Some couples were making out on the couches by the dance floor. What it looked like was a legal house-party.

The host sat them together at a table and said that a waiter would be with them presently. Kazahaya took in more of his surroundings. He noticed all of the people dancing together were all...

"What!" Kazahaya said astounded, "What the hell have you dragged me into?" He hissed.

"What?" Rikuo looked confused.

"You know! Over there!" Kazahaya said pointing to the dance floor and watching the couples making out.

"Oh," Rikuo said looking around, "I found out it's male homosexuals night, I wanted to take you out now so you'd be more comfortable."

But Kazahaya was far from comfortable. Exceedingly far from comfortable. Male homosexuals night? Who in hell came up with that!

"Umm, great!" Kazahaya said putting on a happy face, "So, where did you find that out?"

Rikuo looked up at the ceiling clearly trying to remember, "Umm, when I was getting us juice this afternoon, one of the receptionists told me, I think..."

Kazahaya could have collapsed out of exasperation. The _receptionists_...of COURSE IT WAS THEM! Evil...evil...women...that would be something that Kakei-san might put them up to, but complete strangers? The night was defintely going to be something to remember.

As the waiter came out and asked them for their orders, Kazahaya wondered if he was a good date partner. Sure, he was trying to put up a brave front by accepting the night, but all the same, he was kind of boring if you came to it. He didn't really have many interests other than festivals and money, and the only thing he really disliked right now was Rikuo.

Kazahaya supposed that he should be nice to Rikuo since his curse was to like him so much, and this curse wasn't his fault. He desperately hoped that the receptionists were wrong in thinking that Rikuo was cursed to show feelings and affections he wouldn't normally, but all the same. Rikuo was treating him so...so well, and like he was really expecting to have a good time with Kazahaya.

It was just unfair, it was just so unfair.

When the waiter came back twenty minutes later with their food, Kazahaya was happy, it gave him an excuse not to talk to Rikuo with his mouth full. Rikuo had been talking to him about something random that Kazahaya wasn't really paying attention to, being too nervous, and too deep in thought, but he was really trying to be a good date otherwise. He even let Rikuo get away with leaving his knee next to Kazahaya's throughout their meal.

When the main course was over, much to Kazahaya's dismay, Rikuo asked if he wanted to share desert. Kazahaya agreed, still hearing the repeated words in his brain about giving Rikuo what he wants.

_I just want the curse to be gone...I just want the old Rikuo back!_ Kazahaya told himself over and over again. He and Rikuo were sitting in close proximity while eating. Rikuo was again talking to him about something that was probably very interesting, but he wasn't really concentrating on anything else.

They sat on one of the couches later around the club/restaurant/bar and Rikuo became suddenly concerned for Kazahaya's sanity.

"Kaza, are you okay?" He asked.

"Huh!" Kazahaya asked surprised, "Wh-what do you mean?" Dammit. Rikuo had caught on...damn, now if he still had an ounce of Rikuo left in him, he would never hear the end of being on his first and only date in his entire life.

"Well I mean, you haven't really said much this entire time. Is something bothering you?

"Err, no, please continue." Kazahaya said.

"Right well if you--"

But he was cut off by their same male waiter delivering some drinks and a bucket with a champagne bottle to them.

He said, "Compliments of two of our waitresses." He said placing the drinks before them and turning to leave.

"Compliments?" Rikuo looked confusedly at them before they both turned and looked at the two receptionists smiling and waving in their direction.

Would they never _stop_? Kazahaya wondered. No way was he drinking any more of that stuff, he had no idea what he did to Rikuo that night, but he woke up with his clothes on, so that had to be a good sign.

"Well that was nice of them," Rikuo said giving Kazahaya a flute.

Where was that coming from? Hadn't Rikuo looked like he was ready to kill them both just that morning? Maybe he couldn't remember? But it was only that morning...so maybe...but maybe it was because of this curse, he really couldn't remember anything once he'd be hit fully...

Great, just great, Rikuo was probably never coming back.

Unless he found a way to get rid of it soon...but he doubted that...

But give him what he wants? He had been giving Rikuo what he--

But he really never knew what Rikuo was thinking...maybe he should ask...but NO! He couldn't be blunt about it! He had to be careful about what he said to Rikuo, unless...

"Kazahaya!" Rikuo said, and Kazahaya started.

He had no idea that Rikuo had been trying to grab his attention while he was thinking these thoughts...

"Rikuo! What do you want from me!" Kazahaya said, and instantly regretted it. It all just popped out of his mouth right after Rikuo had finally brought him back to his senses.

"Huh?" Rikuo said, "Want from you? What are you talking about?"

"Umm, I mean," He knew there was no getting out of it. If he said it was nothing, then Rikuo would probably ask him about it all night. "Well, I mean like, our...err, _relationship_,"

Rikuo blinked, but then recovered and gave him that soft loving smile he had worn earlier. He said, "All I want is for you to like me,"

* * *

**TBC.**

**Heh heh, I AM evil, aren't I? Right when Kaza-chan finally finds out how to lift the curse, I end it! Mwahahahaha! Hoped you likes it. Grr, this is about 8 pages on my word processor, but it'll be all short when I upload it! Gr. (don't mind my rambles.)**


	11. And the Like

**Title:** Heart of the Sword  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Fandom:** Legal Drug  
**Pairing:** Kazahaya x Rikuo  
**Warning:** Err, if you do not like boy/boy love, please don't read.  
**Chapter 9:** And The Like  
**Summary:** When Kakei-san sends the boys out to find an old sword, the boys find that it is a cursed sword and that all cursed are supposed to do highly unexpected tasks, like love one another! Trouble ensues around two receptionists and Samurai Champloo quotes are said! A ride up an elevator is all it takes...  
**Disclaimer:** LD belongs to the geniuses of CLAMP. Have fun reading your second-to-last chapter!  
Author: **jillrocca**

Kazahaya spent the entire night tossing and turning in his sleep. If Rikuo wanted Kazahaya to like him so much, then he was never coming back...there was some small part of him that wished he could like Rikuo as much as his curse seemed to like him just to get everything back to normal, but he knew that wouldn't happen...he just couldn't bring himself to liking another guy.

And what about all those times that Rikuo had tortured and been mean to him? How the hell was Kazahaya supposed to like him now when lying down right next to him was enough of a hardship, especially since they were both guys...unless...all those times, Rikuo just wanted his attention? It didn't seem likely, but Rikuo's thoughts were really hard to read especially since he never showed any emotions other than smugness or anger...and even annoyance.

Damn this sword and damn this curse crap! It made Kazahaya restless and after that extremely shocking and awkward night he desperately needed sleep, but after what Rikuo had said...

"_All I want is for you to like me,_" Sure, that's what he had said, but...no, Rikuo would never tease him and go this far. It was just so un-Rikuo!

Kazahaya woke up the next morning in a fit of rage. He had gotten another hang-over. Surely that couldn't be healthy after just overcoming one?

"Dammit! I'm never letting you talk me into drinking alcohol again!" Kazahaya yelled despite all of his worries as Rikuo exited the shower.

Rikuo came and sat in a chair by Kazahaya, chuckled and said, "Oh Kaza-chan! You're so cute!"

Damn him, he even smiled like he meant it.

Kazahaya glared at him, very angry at the other teen for making him feel so hopelessly confused. What the hell was his problem? Hadn't Rikuo gone to break the sword with his powers? It would have worked, surely it would have! But that damned spirit was extremely tricky. What the hell was her problem?

"Will you stop calling me that?" Kazahaya asked angrily after a while.

Rikuo smiled softly, "It suits you."

Kazahaya blushed and closed his eyes. About a moment later, Rikuo had placed himself on top of him and started to massage Kazahaya's temples, no doubt thinking it would make Kazahaya feel better and make him a bit happier.

Kazahaya's eyes snapped open during all of this, but he couldn't really do anything once the great oaf was on top of him. And he was naked too, under that towel. Didn't Rikuo have any dignity? Kazahaya blushed deepened to a crimson and he closed his eyes once again. It was helping his headache a bit if he just relaxed...

And finally after such a long night, Kazahaya drifted off to sleep. Rikuo took his hands off of Kazahaya's face and just observed him for a few moments. Then he cupped his hands around his face and inched closer towards it. He licked his lips, finally, a time when Kazahaya would protest...but oh was he so wrong. Kazahaya started to whimper like a baby from his headaches now that Rikuo wasn't massaging his head anymore and woke up with a start, gasped at what Rikuo was doing and literally kicked Rikuo off from on top of him.

Rikuo fell in a naked heap, massaging his back and Kazahaya blushed at his own strength and the fact that he caught a glimpse of Rikuo's...before the towel came falling down and rested on top of Kazahaya's head obscuring his vision.

---

Later that day, after Eki-Kyabe was supplied to Kazahaya, he went in search of that sword again. Rikuo kept trying to tag along, but Kazahaya just said, "Err, why don't you buy my a present! It would make me really happy!" In the cutest way possible, such as sticking his face right near Rikuo's and smiling prettily and giggling. Sometimes being pretty did have it's uses since Rikuo's nose started to bleed and he ran off to the nearest gift shop.

"That'll keep him busy for the next few hours..." Kazahaya said turning away and glaring down the hallway.

Kazahaya checked every unlocked closet, every maid's cart, he even asked for entry to the kitchens, but the sword hadn't floated anywhere like that. He went around knocking on doors asking around if they had seen a sword, using the old kendo school club excuse he had used with the old Osakan man some days ago. But no one had seen it...

He suddenly found himself outside in the courtyard and slumped down onto a stone bench. He was so tired of walking everywhere. This was insane! Kakei must have known something like this would have happened...damn him, why all these dangerous missions? But if he did somehow manage to find the sword and bring it back in one piece, he would get paid in full!

As he sat happily reminiscing in that fact, he didn't notice when the receptionist called Ayumu was stadnign right in front of him, until he looked up and received the shock of his life.

"What do you want?" Kazahaya asked annoyed when the shock had worn off.

"To tell you something," She said calmly and bent down to whisper in his ear. She said, "You might want to try the closet right back inside the hotel...the one slightly to the right...you might find it interesting."

If Kazahaya hadn't met her before, this statement would have made him thoroughly confused and wanting to make the law enforcement pursue her, but following her advice, he dashed out of the courtyard and barged his way into the closet.

It was lit by only one light and that was the glowing of the sword, which was lying on the floor. The sword glowed red as soon as Kazahaya entered and something pushed him in and slammed the door right behind him.

_Tell me boy..._

Something was speaking to him...and it was the spirit of the woman inside the sword. She hovered over the sword in the room and spoke to him once again.

_Do you love men? Do you work for them? Do you dedicate yourself to them and get recognition after?_

Kazahaya thinking it best ot be honest in this situation decided on a, "Well...yes, I suppose...I get paid..."

Suddenly the woman's eyes glowed red and angry. A shocking burst of wind blew around the small closet and random bottles, towels, gloves and the like flew all around and hit Kazahaya everywhere.

_Damn you!_

---

Rikuo couldn't wait to show what he had gotten Kazahaya. The girl behind the counter said it was top quality even for a gift shop. He could wait to get that cute little teen into bed that night and...what a lovely breeze.

Rikuo was just walking down a hallway after a few minutes of searching for Kazahaya and came to face the receptionist called Ayumu. She was resting on a chair, her legs crossed and staring out a window right behind her. It looked like she was staring at the courtyard.

"That you for those drinks last night," Rikuo said upon approcaing her.

"That was no problem boy...now tell me, are you looking for _him_ now?" She asked smiling a little deviously.

Rikuo looked down at her, confused, "Err, yes, do you know where Kazahaya is?"

She pointed to a door right across the hallway from her and said, "You might want to look in there..."

"Thank you!" Rikuo clutched his present more closely, burst through the room and said, "Kaza-chan!" But was met by a scream and a strong gust of wind that made a towel hit him right in the face.

As soon as Rikuo removed the towel he saw the spirit woman of the sword staring down at Kazahaya as if she'd like to kill him.

_Death to all men!_

**Let's not go into a long-winded story of why I'm back, but ehhh, let's just say, LJ hasn't been good to me, so I supposed I'd move on back. Hope that makes people happy.**


	12. Return Engagement

**Title:** Heart of the Sword  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Fandom:** Legal Drug  
**Pairing:** Kazahaya x Rikuo  
**Warning:** Err, if you do not like boy/boy love, please don't read.  
**Chapter 10:** Return Engagement  
**Summary:** When Kakei-san sends the boys out to find an old sword, the boys find that it is a cursed sword and that all cursed are supposed to do highly unexpected tasks, like love one another! Trouble ensues around two receptionists and Samurai Champloo quotes are said! A ride up an elevator is all it takes...  
**Disclaimer:** LD belongs to the geniuses of CLAMP. Have fun reading your second-to-last chapter!  
**A/N:** Oh geez, I'm just pretending I'm making the fourth book for CLAMP since they said they don't like making LD because it doesn't have any girls in it. And I'm like, GEEZ! So why the hell did you have us hanging onto it by the page. I really want it baaaaack! Hmm, I guess I better come up with a story idea for book 5 … I mean I guess xxxHOLiC will do for now, but it's like they're continuing LD in that form without us EVER finding out who those girls are and how we can brainwash R&K into believing that they're in love with each other … but I dunno if Rikuo needs any … Anyway, sorry I've been delaying this (and the rest of my stories). I know I've looked dead, but I'll try not to in future.  
**Author:** Teh Jilly-est.

_Death to all men!_

This wasn't good. This was not good. Kazahaya was about to be killed by some vengeful spirit and all he was doing was sitting on the ground and staring at it in horror. Why couldn't he move his limbs?

Suddenly, the sword's spirit spoke again.

_Men! It is you who imprisoned me! It is you who claimed an honorable and loyal soldier was disgraceful just because that soldier happened to be a woman! DAMN YOU ALL! Come out of the closet! You're all just scared to think that a woman could handle what a man could also do! DAMN YOU ALL!_

A strong gust of wind moved inside the supply closet, much like a whirlwind. Towels, mops, brooms, and every kind of cleaner imaginable came falling down towards Kazahaya. Rikuo glared at the spirit woman. He wanted to break those bottles, but all the dangerous chemicals inside of them…

The best he could do was fling his present to Kazahaya aside and cover Kazahaya, Rikuo's back to the whirlwind of products. Kazahaya clung to him until the whirlwind subsided.

_WHY AREN'T YOU DEAD YET! _The woman roared in anger.

This caused Kazahaya to glare at the woman and he pushed Rikuo out of his way as he stood up and faced her. He said, "You're an idiot to think that some stupid cleaning product bottles could kill!"

The spirit-woman's fire-red eyes flashed even brighter. She screamed shrilly, causing the wind pressure in the room to raise so high that it caused the metal shelves where the cleaning products used to be to bend, while some areas snapped completely.

Kazahaya stared wide-eyed at the tall shelves as they converged, making their way down to the spot where Kazahaya was standing.

"Move idiot!" Rikuo said grabbing him and pulling him down. He held Kazahaya beneath him, protecting him.

"R-Rikuo! Don't--" Kazahaya stammered, but it was too late, the shelves were already upon them. Kazahaya closed his eyes, but his ears still heard the series of crashing sounds. The banging and the clanging made him wince, but the heavy protective weight was still upon him.

When it finally stopped, Kazahaya opened his eyes. The shelves had all fallen down and they were buried underneath.

"Rikuo?" He called out.

Rikuo's head was slumped over his shoulder. Was he-? No, no he couldn't be! Kazahaya surveyed the damage. Shifting his weight, he saw that the metal had bent upwards and …

"It's not on top of you, so you can stop pretending to be dead!" Kazahaya said angrily. The metal had bent upwards and not even touched the other boy's back. Sighing, Kazahaya tried to push Rikuo off of him, but as soon as Kazahaya spoke, Rikuo looked up at him glaring.

"Idiot, she's probably--" Rikuo started, but was cut off by the spirit hovering over them, her eyes flashing.

_You're still alive! DAMN YOU!_

"Damn!" Rikuo cried out. He thrust himself over Kazahaya and broke down the wooden door using his power. He crawled out and Kazahaya followed.

When they made it out of the closet, they broke into a run, the spirit floating along with her sword close behind them.

Running through the corridor as fast as they could, Kazahaya turned back to see the woman hot on their trail. Kazahaya shouted, "Crazy bitch!" which only made the woman float faster. The closer she got, she willed her sword down upon Kazahaya.

Rikuo grabbed his hand in just the nick of time before the sword landed with a thud in the carpeted floor. "Idiot!" Rikuo yelled as they kept running.

The woman continued to will her sword in the two boy's direction. When they finally reached the end of the hall, they made for the stone stairwell and climbed higher and higher. The sword could even cut through stone in the woman's pursuit of Kazahaya and Rikuo. Finally, after running, they reached the roof, having Rikuo break the door on their way through.

They ran and came upon the edge of the building. Kazahaya, startled at having to stop so suddenly, teetered over the edge, but Rikuo grabbed the back of his hoodie to keep him from falling.

Turning around, they saw that the woman was making slow progress to where the boys stood. Smirking, she willed her sword into the air about to strike when …

"Why are you doing this, you _crazy bitch_!" Kazahaya shouted.

That made the woman stop. She lowered her sword considering Kazahaya's angry facial expression.

"Why do you curse people? Why do you want to kill us?" Kazahaya persisted.

_It is only men I am after, that receptionist almost killed you, you almost killed yourself._

Rikuo asked, "But why _us_?"

_You're trying to stop me._ The spirit said simply.

"Is that it?" Kazahaya asked indignantly.

_You are men! Men that imprisoned me and looked down on me with embarrassment in their eyes!_

"Not us! Some other guys did it! Kill them!" Kazahaya said without really thinking.

Rikuo glared at him, "Idiot, it was hundreds of years ago, they're already--"

_I already did kill them. It felt wonderful._

It was Rikuo's turn to stare wide-eyed at the spirit woman. So she had killed them already, so, why was she out against all men?

"If you already killed those men, why are you after all men?" Rikuo asked crossing his arms and looking annoyed.

Kazahaya stared at him. He hadn't realized it before, but Rikuo's tone hadn't been as girlish as it was maybe a few hours before. He was all serious and calm. Was he acting, _normal_?

_Men have oppressed women for centuries, I want to kill them all!_

"You're not doing a good job staying here--" Kazahaya ventured, but Rikuo cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

"You should learn to look at people as individuals! We didn't do anything to you."

Then again, maybe Rikuo wasn't back to normal. As far as Kazahaya knew, Rikuo would never say anything like that. Kazahaya lowered his eyelids in annoyance in Rikuo's direction.

_What the hell?_ Kazahaya thought to himself.

"You should learn …" Rikuo said stepping towards the spirit woman. She got surprised and tried to float back, taking the sword with her. Rikuo kept advancing.

_What are you doing?_ She asked sounding scared.

Kazahaya himself was following Rikuo's progress with wide eyes, wondering what the hell he could be doing.

" … to stop treating us the same!" All too soon, Rikuo was upon the spirit and he grasped the sword as she screamed, _WHAT ARE YOU DOING?_

Rikuo concentrated as hard as he could. There was a flash of light and sword shards scattered all over the rooftop. Kazahaya gasped as a heavy thud his the ground.

Kazahaya ran over to the other boy. "Rikuo! What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Rikuo lay motionless on his side. Kazahaya began to shake one of his shoulders. "What the hell? Get up!"

Rikuo was lying very still, even after Kazahaya's shaking. Kazahaya could feel little pricks against the corners of his eyes. He said, "Damn you! Why did you touch it? Now you'll never be back to normal …"

Kazahaya turned Rikuo on his back gazed down on him. He didn't even care that the sword hilt was the only thing remaining of the cursed sword and that the spirit was gone.

_Maybe if I …_ Kazahaya cradled Rikuo's face in his hands and kissed him. He could feel the heat creeping up on his cheeks, but he paid no attention to it. All he could think about was getting Rikuo to wake up.

Rikuo's lips were so warm, that was a good sign, it meant that he was still alive. Good, but this warmth … Kazahaya could have just stayed there forever, but …

_Oh my god. This is just like that time …_ Kazahaya had a fleeting memory of his lips being warm once while he was here and was pleasant after he had felt so cold, but he couldn't remember what he was …

"The pool!" Kazahaya shouted leaping off of Rikuo, "Did you give me mouth to mouth? Asshole!" He sat there huffing until he remembered that Rikuo was still unconscious. So much for his theories …

He started to blush at his stupidity when Rikuo's eyebrows narrowed and he started to frown saying, "Yeah? And what do you think _you're_ doing right now?" Rikuo started to sit up holding his head in one hand like he had a headache. But then as he sat up a little straighter, he let go of his face and put on a vicious smile and said, "But then again, let's continue where we left off."

Kazahaya backed away on his hands and knees, glaring at Rikuo and blushing at the same time. He said, "Asshole! You were awake the whole time, weren't you?"

"Yeah, but you seemed so distressed that I didn't want to interrupt." Rikuo replied.

"BASTARD!" Kazahaya shouted, but despite his bad mood at being caught doing something really embarrassing, he felt relieved. Was Rikuo really back to normal? He sounded like he was …

_"All I want it for you to like me."_ Kazahaya remembered Rikuo saying one time. Was a kiss to return affection all it took to lift the spell? Well, Rikuo had given him mouth to mouth, which was almost like a kiss, because he didn't want Kazahaya to die from drowning in that pool, and Kazahaya hadn't wanted Rikuo to die from the impact of the sword shattering. _Maybe …_

Kazahaya stared at Rikuo wondering. Rikuo returned this with a glare. "Why are you staring at me like an idiot?" Rikuo asked.

Kazahaya felt his face brighten as he got up and ran over to Rikuo saying, "You're back to normal!" He wrapped his arms around Rikuo, bent down on his knees where Rikuo was sitting, and gave Rikuo a proper kiss of the lips.

Startled, Rikuo fell over to land on his back, but he soon returned Kazahaya's sudden affections by turning them both over and deepening the kiss before …

"OUCH! You asshole!" Kazahaya shouted breaking the kiss and speaking to Rikuo as if he hadn't done anything strange.

He lifted himself up and pulled out what was under him. It was the sword hilt; the only part of the sword left whole. Kazahaya examined it, then dropped it as a floating wisp of smoke came floating out of the part where the sword and hilt met.

The smoke rose up and shaped itself into the form of a smiling black-haired woman. The smoke cloud broke off from the sword hilt and rose up into the sky smiling, crying transparent tears as it looked upon the two boys saying a soft _Thank you_. And that was the last they saw of the spirit within the sword.

Rikuo picked up the sword hilt and examined it in his hands. To do this, he had to lean over Kazahaya, which made the light-haired boy blush.

Rikuo said, "It's time to go home."

--

**TBC … IMPORTANT STUFF BELOW! **

**Yes, I'm adding an afterward of what happens once they get back and give Kakei the sword hilt. Hmm, since CLAMP's not working on LD, let's call this book 4, since Yuki-san is awesome enough to make a doujinshi out of this. Hmm, should I start thinking of a book 5 in continuation? (Smiles, I'll definitely try to become better at working on all of these stories of mine.)**

**BTW, speaking of CLAMP stuff, I'd appreciate anyone who read &reviewed my story As the World Turns, which is on my site. It's my super crossover between many fandoms. Thanks!**

**I'd also like to thank all of you for reviewing this story and being patient with me while it was being completed. THANK YOU!**

**I'd also really appreciate it if you guys would read my site, as I have updated it with a lot of important stuff. Like, I want to purge some of the stories I don't like by August 2nd and I put up a petition/vote system for what stories you guys actually want me to continue. Thanks!**


	13. Pay Day

**Title:** Heart of the Sword  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Fandom:** Legal Drug  
**Pairing:** Kazahaya x Rikuo  
**Epilogue: **Pay Day  
**Summary:** When Kakei-san sends the boys out to find an old sword, the boys find that it is a cursed sword and that all cursed are supposed to do highly unexpected tasks, like love one another! Trouble stirs around two receptionists and Samurai Champloo quotes are said! A ride up an elevator is all it takes...  
**Disclaimer:** LD belongs to the geniuses of CLAMP.  
**Warnings:** Beware some OOC-ness.  
**A/N:** HERE'S YOUR FINAL CHAPTER! Huzzah!!!!!!!!!!! I've finally written it!!!! YESS! Will be writing the next book for CLAMP as they have not made notions that they are still even thinking about LD. Look for it in the New Year!  
**Author:** We Heart Katamochi Jill!

Kazahaya and Rikuo left the resort the next morning by train. Ayumu said that she and Jill would clean up the sword shards on the roof, so no worries there.

What Kazahaya might have worried about was the phone call Ayumu posed after he and Rikuo had left.

"Hello?" said the voice on the other end of the line.

"Yes? They're coming to you. The job they did is half-complete, but you shouldn't count that against them." Ayumu said into the phone.

There was a long pause until the other voice said, "I'll try." Ayumu smiled and hung up the phone.

"They gone?" came another voice from behind Ayumu. She recognized that Osakan accent. She smiled to herself and said, "Yeah, they're gone."

---

The train ride back to Tokyo was peaceful. Rikuo was finally acting like his normal brooding self, but seemed a bit more inviting towards Kazahaya now that they had saved each other on several accounts on this whole wild journey.

Kazahaya fingered the sword sheath in his hand that was inside an ornate drawstring bag. He let his head fall onto Rikuo's shoulder and just lay their peacefully for the duration of the trip. Rikuo crossed and uncrossed his arms every once in a while as if he didn't know what to do with them. Kazahaya could see the fake look of annoyance on Rikuo's face, but could feel the pleasure that was emitting from the taller boy. The two of them didn't talk for the entire trip, but Kazahaya fell asleep after a little while anyway enjoying the peaceful feeling generating between them.

When they got back to the drug store late in the afternoon, they were surprised to see that neither Kakei-san nor Saiga-san was waiting for them. A tall woman was standing with a box over by the register restocking a few items, while a small high school girl sat stood behind the register reading a magazine.

They looked up from what they were doing when the bell tinkled against the metal on the door as Kazahaya and Rikuo stepped in.

"Umm, tadaima?" Kazahaya called out into the drug store.

The girl behind the register, who was reading the magazine, came over to them. The boys noticed she had an odd look about her eyes that sort of reminded them both of someone they knew …

"Welcome back. Aiji's been waiting for you," Said the girl. Her voice was cool and a bit dark, who was she? And who did they remind them of?

The woman trounced over to them after she had set her box down. Her hands were on her hips and she gazed at them appraisingly. Kazahaya stared back at her a bit frightfully, now who was _this_ woman now? Rikuo just glared at her.

The woman turned over her shoulder and called, "Shun? Shunichi! You're boys are back!"

"What's that?" said a familiar voice. The head of Saiga popped out behind a back door and smiled as soon as he saw the boys. "Oh, welcome back!" He said bounding over to them. He grabbed Kazahaya by the waist as he usually did sending Kazahaya into a fit of protest, but Saiga just slung Kazahaya over his shoulder and carried him towards the back stairwell while Kazahaya kicked at him.

Rikuo said nothing, but followed Kazahaya and Saiga up the stairs to the next floor where he and Kakei lived. The interior of the apartment looked no different from Kazahaya and Rikuo's one upstairs, though the place had a much warmer and loving feels to it. There was different furniture than what the boys had upstairs. Their room compared to a dorm room while Kakei and Saiga set up more of a long-term establishment. There was an array of silver pots and pans hanging on a rack on one of the kitchen walls and several decorated plates and bowls drying on a dish rack. The dining room table was large enough for about six people and had a white table cloth to cover it. There were curtains hanging in every window and the shades were brought up so sunlight poured into the room. A small main area was set off past the dining room where a large sofa stood and a television stood before that on a large wooden stand.

The next room they entered was the bedroom where there was only one large bed situated in the center of the room amidst two sets of dresser drawers and a bookshelf. Currently occupying the bed was Kakei-san who sat up right in the center with a breakfast tray placed beside him. He folded his hands in his lap as soon as they entered and smiled.

Kakei-san didn't look so good. He sat up straight, but his face was strained and a little pale. He must have been sick, but all the same, Saiga removed the tray from the bed and gave it to Rikuo to hold, then promptly threw Kazahaya onto the bed where he gazed up at Kakei-san's face.

Kakei-san looked down at Kazahaya, smiled, and asked, "What have you brought back for me?" in a hoarse voice.

"Err," Kazahaya said feeling quite uncomfortable having his head in Kakei-san's lap. Kazahaya managed to sit up slowly as Saiga sat down next to Kakei, letting his feet fall off the bed, but managing to wrap a strong arm around Kakei-san's waist.

Kazahaya pulled the sword hilt in its pouch from one of his pockets and presented it to his boss as Rikuo came in closer, though he didn't sit on the bed.

Kakei took the pouch from Kazahaya and inspected its contents. He fingered the hilt quite carefully for a few moments before saying, "Now boys,"

Rikuo and Kazahaya stared at their boss, but Kazahaya was the only one anticipating a good pay for their hard job well done.

"Your mission was to bring back the sword, correct?"

"Yes," Kazahaya confirmed, "We did that."

"Actually, as you have only brought me back the sword _hilt_, I'm afraid I can't pay you in full."

Kazahaya was shocked. He couldn't believe that his boss would foul him up like that, but when had Kakei-san ever … not? Completely dismayed, Kazahaya slid himself off the bed and turned wide-eyed to stare at Rikuo as if he could do something.

"No money?" Kazahaya asked, not really talking to Rikuo, but more like asking the question to himself just so he could hear the reality of what was happening to him.

"No money." Rikuo said finally and seriously.

"Thank you boys, you can leave now." Kakei said.

Kazahaya moved towards the door, but as he was about to open the door, the two women from downstairs came through.

"Onii-chan! Medicine time!" said the younger girl who had been reading the magazine in the shop.

"Azura …" Came Kakei's hoarse voice as the young girl came in close to give her apparent brother his medicine.

"Onii-chan?!" Kazahaya exclaimed whipping around to stare at Kakei.

"Yes, Rikuo, Kazahaya, this is my younger sister Azura. She's around your age. She helps with the shop when you two have long missions for me."

_This is unfair …_ Kazahaya thought to himself staring at the girl as she smiled at him and said, "I need the money,"

"You two would get along," Kakei said smiling and taking the medicine from his sister. He swallowed two pills along with some water Azura had brought up for him and then he turned to look around Rikuo to find the older woman standing right behind the tall boy. He said, "Yes Chi?"

"There's a problem with that Aiji-kun. You actually pay her," Said the woman. "Shuni-chan, why don't you ever stop his tyranny?"

"There'd be no point, Chiaka," Saiga said to the woman who was eyeballing the two of them in suspicion. "Besides, it's more fun this way. Pays the bills!"

"I'm sure Shunichi," Chiaka said now turning to the two boys and glaring at them. "I defended you, you better thank me!"

"Oh, err, ano, thank you!" Kazahaya said. She was a bit scary.

Chiaka turned on her heel and went over to sit next to Kakei and the two of them started laughing at the boy's reactions. She later began fussing—in a much different voice than the one she had used with the two boys—over Kakei's health and such. The conversations got more random the longer Kazahaya and Rikuo stood in the doorway. They must have all been old friends, and Kazahaya didn't know how this could all happen, but the again, he never asked anything about his bosses' pasts.

Finally Chiaka said, "You all are like one big happy family," She looked over at the two boys smiling and said, "Parents never give their kids what they want, I wish I could have that."

Azura said, "Aiji-Okaa-san and Shunichi-Otou-san won't give Chi-chan any of that!"

Chiaka stood up from her place on the bed and ushered the three teenagers out so Saiga and Kakei could be alone. They were talking in hushed tones as Chiaka closed the door behind her.

"Oh, it's not fair. I've offered to work here, but Aiji-kun won't let me for some reason," Chiaka lamented at they all reached the staircase.

"You don't want to work here," Kazahaya said with the little-to-no-pay-thing still weighing heavily on his mind.

Chiaka laughed and said, "Oh really?" She started to head downstairs with Azura while the boys headed upstairs to drop off their things when Chiaka said, very kindly, "Oh, I've clean all you rooms and washed your clothes for you, the least you could do is to come downstairs in twenty minutes and work the shop!" She winked at them and she and Azura headed downstairs.

"We have to work as soon as we get back?" Kazahaya whined as soon as he and Rikuo made it to their floor, which was spotless thanks to the ladies downstairs.

Rikuo said, "I'm not sure about her family theory,"

Kazahaya turned to face him, "Why is that?"

"Because," Rikuo went on, "I wouldn't want to be your brother."

Kazahaya glared at him quite forgetting himself. He said, "And why is that?"

Rikuo glared at him. He grabbed Kazahaya's wrists and slammed the smaller boy up against a wall and said, "If I were your brother it would be illegal to do this." Rikuo said and started to kiss Kazahaya firmly on the lips.

That's right, their whole ordeal, how could Kazahaya have forgotten? All the confusion he experienced when he came back home must have made their ordeal leave him. Where would they go from here on out? They've had so many difficulties with each other in past, would they overcome all that and find happiness?

Rikuo deepened the kiss as Kazahaya was thinking about all these things. Eventually Rikuo let go of Kazahaya's wrists and slipped his hands around the boy's waist. Kazahaya's hands wended their way to Rikuo's back and clung onto his shirt.

They seemed to be falling and kissing at the same time. They slid down to the base of the wall and situated themselves there until they fell completely to the floor kissing intensely as if all the tension they had built up over the time they'd been together in their apartment was coming out in this one kiss.

The kiss seemed to go on and on for a long time until …

"BOYS!" Chiaka called through their apartment. She found them lying on the floor tangled in each other's arms and breathing heavily.

She exclaimed, "You two can make out after dinner, but right now the shop's suddenly gotten busy and I need your help, so come down stairs, grab your aprons, and help me out!"

The boys got up hurriedly and followed her as she stormed out of their room to go downstairs. That was all too embarrassing for Kazahaya. He wondered how Rikuo felt. He looked quite expressionless putting on his apron, but maybe he was just used to hiding how he really felt all the time.

_But it all came out in that kiss …_ Kazahaya thought to himself smiling as he was watching Rikuo help some girl customers cooing over him while he restocked some shelves.

He'd just have to figure out how Rikuo was feeling after dinner he supposed.

**END.**

**Enjoy it? Hee. I already know what I'm doing for the sequel. I'm thinking of giving it a horrific twist (as in horror/romance genre). And we really must give CLAMP the benefit of the doubt. They _are_ putting out _Tsubasa_ weekly, making _xxxHOLiC_ manga novels, AND now they are doing _all_ the animations for the new anime called _Code Geass_, which if you have not seen yet, SEE IT! It is sooooooooooooooooo kick ass. Only 8 episodes out now. All you shounen-ai/yaoi-type fans will squeal over it. And perhaps I'll write fanfic for that and create the category like I did for xxxHOLiC. Fuuuun fun fun.**

**But yeah. I'll put out the new LD, probably in the New Year. I have to do a ton of research on it for my idea AND I must acquire the LD manga so I can better perfect putting the boys into character (and I have to study for midterms). Expect more indepth-ness and better writing. I'm really trying to work on my style/descriptions even though it's fanfiction.**

**Thanks for reading/waiting for this to come out! It's been great. Thanks for your reviews. You know Heart of the Sword has gotten over 8,000 hits since I last checked. Thanks for reading so much; it really makes me happy knowing so many people like what I do. Thank you. I'll see you with the next book in the New Year!**


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